Characterization of a novel anther-specific gene encoding a leucine-rich repeat protein in petunia

In Petunia x hybrida 'Fantasy Red', a leucine-rich repeat (LRR) gene referred to as PhLRR, was identified in a flower bud cDNA library. The open reading frame sequence of PhLRR was 1251 bp, encoding a putative 46.2-kDa protein of 416 amino acids. The PhLRR protein showed high similarity to members of polygalacturonase inhibitor proteins (PGIPs), contained 11 conserved LRR domains, and was an extracellular localization protein. Phylogenetic analysis showed that PhLRR belonged to the same PGIPs subfamily as SHY, indicating that PhLRR may be involved in the development of pollen-like SHY. Expression analysis revealed that PhLRR was abundantly expressed during early stages of flower bud and anther development, while it was not detected in any other examined organs, such as sepals, petals, pistils, roots, stems, leaves, or open flowers. Furthermore, many cis-acting elements (such as AGAAA and GTGA) related to anther-specific gene expression were identified in the PhLRR gene promoter region, indicating that the promoter is also anther-specific. These results suggested that PhLRR is a novel anther-specific gene that may be essential for the early development of anthers.